Davos Forum fades on screen

Participants in a debate this Friday on Latin America organized through Zoom by the Efe agency and the World Economic Forum. Mariscal / EFE

Just a year ago, Stéphane Bancel, the chief executive of the Moderna pharmaceutical company, was attending a panel in Davos where he heard about the pandemic threat posed by covid-19.

Two epidemiologists who participated in a table on infectious diseases related the chilling figures and data they were receiving from China on the very high rates of contagion and deaths that the virus was causing.

"I no longer thought of anything else throughout the week, I spoke to them several times and asked for their cell phones and emails," Bancel later said.

He immediately launched his team in Boston to push forward research on the coronavirus and prepare for the possibility of a pandemic.

"They told me I was crazy."

Beyond the glamor of corporate parties, the champagne almost at every appointment, the exorbitant prices you have to pay to attend Davos, from accommodation to food or the fee to participate in meetings, the truth is that the Forum World Economic Development (WEF) held each year in Davos offers a framework for debate and exchanges on issues that make up, or will in the future, the global agenda.

In fact, that spirit has been praised this week by several of the 25 heads of state and government who have spoken at the various appointments, such as Chancellor Angela Merkel and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

What happened to Bancel happens countless times in Davos.

You attend a conference or a round table and suddenly hear an interesting idea, with the addition that at the end of the meeting you can approach - if you have the proper identification - the speakers, exchange business cards and even continue the conversation with a coffee in hand in a corner of the congress center.

That is not allowed by the digital edition.

"This format has allowed us to continue dealing with and refreshing some of the issues on the global agenda that were the focus of Davos," explains a Spanish manager who is a regular at the alpine event.

“The great lack is the deficit of

networking

and contacts that the physical presence allowed in Davos.

In a couple of days you could build a contact book that under normal circumstances would have cost dozens of trips and many months to organize.

I think Davos could hardly survive in this format ”, he assures.

For executives, the great attraction of Davos lies in concentrating an innumerable list of meetings in five days that compensates in time and also in money for the high disbursement of the appointment.

For many of them the least are the conferences and debates in the congress center and their life takes place those days between improvised corporate headquarters in premises where the previous week there was a ski shop or a cafeteria, in hotel rooms converted into offices. mobile phones and in a succession of lunches and cocktails where you can make new contacts.

In fact, and despite his experience last year, Moderna's chief executive has not been among the participants in virtual Davos.

The president of Iberdrola, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, nonetheless appreciates that the meeting could have been organized despite the pandemic.

“The program of these days has been similar to that of other years, both due to the variety of topics and the level of the speakers.

Being able to choose, I prefer the value of personal interaction and the work environment that I have had the opportunity to enjoy in Davos for almost three decades, but I am convinced that in the sessions scheduled in May for its Singapore edition, we will regain dedication full that the pandemic has stolen from us ”.

Biden Administration absent

In the absence of personal contact, the appointment has become a succession of political conferences, without interaction and with the restrictions imposed by the digital format.

In addition, the great protagonist of the meeting has been the great absentee, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, and his Administration, to whom many of the messages of the other leaders were directed.

Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, president of the European Research Council (ERC) and with years of presence in Davos, assures that personal interaction is what allows Davos to be a meeting different from others.

“The many opportunities for personal interaction (and sometimes chance) that normal Davos provides could not be replaced.

In general, in addition to the official Davos program, the many side events that are organized offer more opportunities for an interesting exchange, ”he notes by mail.

The Forum organization sees a hybrid future for Davos.

“We have held about 140 Zoom meetings, many simultaneously, in five days.

We were afraid there would be a bit of virtual fatigue, but the response has been positive, ”explains Yann Zopf, head of media relations at the WEF.

“This meeting has shown that there are not so many physical encounters needed, but I see two or three big events a year as essential.

And one, Davos ”.